Two Summer Fruits

Loveliest of trees, the cherry now

Is hung with bloom along the bough,

A.E. Housman 1859-1936 - A Shropshire Lad

Late July and the cherries are ripe

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Cherry Ripe by John Everett Millais - 1879

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Penelope Boothby
Millais's Cherry Ripe was loosely based on Joshua Reynolds's portrait of Penelope Boothby whose sad little tale and exquisite marble tombstone I showed here

  Cherry Ripe written by Robert Herrick in the C16 was put to music by Charles Edward Horn during the C18
The refrain Cherry Ripe is thought to have originated as a street trader's cry

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Cicely Mary Barker - Cherry Tree Fairy

Cherries are loaded with antioxidants which help to fight disease, very rich in vitamin C, and high in iron

Similarly peaches too are rich in antioxidants along with vitamin C and contain the minerals potassium, fluoride, and iron 

William Mason Brown C1880

Cherries and Peaches are featured frequently on paintings. On this link there are 91 paintings of peaches covering more than five centuries.

 Both fruits are used as idioms in the English language to express how wonderful everything is - life is 'a bowl of cherries or a peach' - however, when spoken satirically the meaning is the opposite

Peach Conserve

I simply want to enjoy them whilst they are here and once again that easy French recipe comes in so handy